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“A Stench in the Nostrils of Decency”: The South Mountains in the 1920s

Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary

The presentation examines the South Mountains of western North Carolina in the 1920s. An isolated island of mountains in the western North Carolina Piedmont, the South Mountains are a detached remnant of the main Appalachian chain to their west. Covering some 100,000 acres in Burke, Cleveland, and Rutherford counties, the region serves as a microcosm of Appalachia, both in its natural environment and in the way it has been perceived by outsiders. Drawing upon 1920s’ newspaper coverage of the South Mountains, the presentation focuses on a period of dramatic social change in this region and in the interaction of its people with the more urbanized flatlands of the western Piedmont. In the 1920s, commercial moonshine operations flourished in the South Mountains, providing the nearby urban centers of Gastonia and Charlotte with a seemingly endless supply of bootleg liquor. In 1925, an editorialist for the Hickory Daily Record described the way many Piedmont residents viewed the region: “The South Mountains of Burke. When the name is mentioned you at once think of mean corn whisky, blockaders, illiteracy, degeneracy, poverty and criminals. Certain sections of the South Mountains have been a stench in the nostrils of decency for 40 years and little, or nothing, is done about it.” Residents of Morganton, the county seat of Burke, were embarrassed by the South Mountains’ reputation, and would launch a mission school in an attempt to inculcate mountain residents with middle-class urban values.

At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1

Kevin W. Young is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Georgia. He previously served as an English instructor at Appalachian State University.

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Mar 29th, 2:30 PMMar 29th, 3:45 PM

“A Stench in the Nostrils of Decency”: The South Mountains in the 1920s

Corbly Hall 333

The presentation examines the South Mountains of western North Carolina in the 1920s. An isolated island of mountains in the western North Carolina Piedmont, the South Mountains are a detached remnant of the main Appalachian chain to their west. Covering some 100,000 acres in Burke, Cleveland, and Rutherford counties, the region serves as a microcosm of Appalachia, both in its natural environment and in the way it has been perceived by outsiders. Drawing upon 1920s’ newspaper coverage of the South Mountains, the presentation focuses on a period of dramatic social change in this region and in the interaction of its people with the more urbanized flatlands of the western Piedmont. In the 1920s, commercial moonshine operations flourished in the South Mountains, providing the nearby urban centers of Gastonia and Charlotte with a seemingly endless supply of bootleg liquor. In 1925, an editorialist for the Hickory Daily Record described the way many Piedmont residents viewed the region: “The South Mountains of Burke. When the name is mentioned you at once think of mean corn whisky, blockaders, illiteracy, degeneracy, poverty and criminals. Certain sections of the South Mountains have been a stench in the nostrils of decency for 40 years and little, or nothing, is done about it.” Residents of Morganton, the county seat of Burke, were embarrassed by the South Mountains’ reputation, and would launch a mission school in an attempt to inculcate mountain residents with middle-class urban values.